On Tuesday the 12th, two posts riddled with ‘Big Fat U*U’ in them. Nineteen, to be exact.

But, curiously, on Wednesday the 13th, three posts with no recurrence of that – but plenty of lashing out and vague attacks.

You would think that someone with a difference of opinion over how an organization is run would respond to the retirement of its chief administrator with an optimistic note on the possibility of positive change. No, Robin Edgar has to take more pot shots at Kay Montgomery.

And you would think that, if you talk repeatedly about ‘pedophiles and rapists’ in an organization, you would actually name some, as Robin Edgar had promised to do in his ‘New Year’s resolutions.’ Again, no such luck. Robin Edgar prefers instead to be provocative and sensationalistic – or, should we say, ‘deliberately rude and offensive’?

Robin Edgar keeps demanding that the UUA listen to him. Tell me, Mister Edgar, when you repeatedly describe them with terms like ‘douchebaggery,’ among other insults and perseverations, how do you expect them to take you seriously?

If this latest spate of manic attacks demonstrates anything, it is that Robin Edgar has no interest whatsoever in reconciliation or justice – only in lashing out and drawing attention to himself.

Once again, Robin Edgar publishes another post with another long, bombastic headline about how he’s been victimised by Unitarian Universalists, and his endless crusade against ‘U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’ (read: not doing what he demands).

His latest post is yet another screed about ‘verbally abusive’ UU ministers. No specific examples mentioned, but then again, he’s gone on a tear about so many, we’re sure that even he is losing count.

At any rate, Mister Edgar had also sent a comment to this blog. Considering the content, and his penchant for accusing Unitarian Universalists of ‘hypocrisy’ … well, we shall let our readers decide where he stands:

Oh, nanny nanny boo boo. Having a bad day? Feeling a little insecure about yourself? Talk to your therapist. “RobinEdgarSucks.wordpress.com?” Are you in sixth grade? I just hope to God you’re not Big Fat U*U Ministry. I hope you be annoying you U*Us a lot in the new year. Seems like you U*Us could use it. – TEA

Once again, Robin Edgar has made another list of resolutions on his ‘Emerson Avenger’ blog, all related to his obsessive need to try to bring down Unitarian Universalism for failing to stroke his ego.

The first two are to be expected; he claims that he will ‘hold accountable’ the UUA and their Canadian law firm for their civil actions against his continual harassment and defamation. How? Golly, could we see yet more picketing and rage-filled screeds? After all, the only time he took legal action, with the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal, his complaint was dismissed for lack of merit. Still, we shouldn’t be surprised if he attempts some sort of counter-suit.

But the most outrageous on his list of resolutions is as follows:

Blog about at least two other well documented cases of Unitarian Universalist clergy or U*U Religious Educators who have actually been charged with, and convicted of, engaging in the despicable crime known as pedophilia.

We have seen this before, with his relentlessly repeating rants about former UU minister Mack Mitchell. The man was turned in by members of his own congregation, suspended from ministry during legal proceedings, and formally stripped of his ministerial credentials once convicted. But no, this isn’t good enough for Robin Edgar. Apparently he wants ‘U*U justice’ to be impossibly swift and sure. Would it help, Mister Edgar, if the Ministerial Fellowship Committee traveled back in time to undo everything? Considering his obsessive desire to hold grudges, we wouldn’t be surprised if even that was not good enough for him!

For all we know, the cases he’s talking about could involve people reported to the UUA by active UUs, and acted upon promptly and properly by both UU officials and law enforcement. It could also be that these are cases from long before the UUA had learned its lesson and implemented better policies for dealing with issues of professional misconduct, and for which the UUA has apologised and made restitution.

But, as we have seen before, nothing the UUA or any UU minister or leader could ever do will ever satisfy him. His self-defeating efforts are but sad attempts to bring down an organization and a movement devoted to compassion and forgiveness – something which, from what we can tell of his statements and behaviour, he seems very sorely lacking. It is a shame that a man with such energy must waste so much of it lashing out at a religious community instead of moving on and trying to build something better. Remember, also, this is a man who has refused to promise to remain non-violent in his so-called quest for ‘justice’. All we can do, sad to say, is remain vigilant and hopeful that he will not escalate into something much worse.

So far, Robin Edgar has done scant little aside from attack, insult, harass and slander. He’s not just annoyingly repetitive and unimaginative, he’s so overwhelmingly negative that he constantly begs the question … Just what does this man want?!?

(And we’re not sure even he knows the answer to that question.)

Now we do not agree with every Unitarian Universalist blogger out there, or with everything that the UUA does or stands up for, but we can certainly applaud when somebody takes the time to go beyond mere criticism and propose a constructive alternative.

One such blogger, having noted some serious shortcomings in the way the UUA handles complaints from individuals, proposed establishing an ombudspersonto field such complaints. At the very least, this blogger suggests, this UU ombudsperson could at least direct people with complaints to the right office or individual.

Tell us, Robin Edgar, would you approve of this idea? Since you can’t come up with an idea like this on your own, the least you can do is support this proposal.

Then again, Mister Edgar has expressed so much disdain for this particular blogger, it’s unlikely he’ll have anything positive to say about it.

Come to think of it, we can’t recall when Robin Edgar has had anything positive or constructive to say at all.

So, what do you say, Robin? Could you at least try to move beyond carping and lashing out, and give a concrete constructive proposal?

Don’t ever play cards with Robin Edgar. Because, if he plays the same way he responds to Unitarian Universalists, then he’s bound to rig the deck in his favour. Always.

If you’re a UU minister, and you post something on your blog which he does not like, then he attacks you. He’ll even file a ‘formal complaint of clergy misconduct’ (albeit to the wrong people) against you, and demand a response.

If he does not get a response to his misplaced ‘formal complaint’, then he will continually hound and harass the President of the UUA for one (even though the President’s office is not where such complaints are supposed to be delivered)

Well, let us say that you now remove the offending post, for whatever reason. Still not good enough. Now you are guilty of ‘memory-holing,’ because in Robin Edgar’s bizarre view of reality, you can never ever make amends for any mistake, and you must be forced to live with your mistakes forever and ever and ever.

So once again he spirals into another blast of manic posts, lashing out at UUs refusing to indulge his immature need for absolute attention.

But here is the most pathetic – and hypocritical – part of this never-ending cycle in the life of Robin Edgar. While he decries UUs, especially UU ministers, of allegedly being insulting and rude to him, he goes out of his way to behave in even more rude and insulting behaviour, then acts as shocked as Claude Rains in ‘Casablanca’ that they would respond the way they do.

Yes, of course, he has repeatedly tried to distance himself from his actions, often by claiming that it’s not really him who is so obnoxious, but his supposed alter ego, ‘The Emerson Avenger’. Read this excerpt from a comment on his blog, dated Sunday, July 12th, 2009:

‘The Emerson Avenger is something of a “persona” aka an “act” and is often quite deliberately rude and “in your face” offensive’

The cycle continues. He doesn’t like what a Unitarian Universalist says, either about him or anything else. He considers it a deliberate insult to him, so he now considers himself justified in insulting, attacking and harassing the UU in question. When called on the carpet for his behaviour, he attempts to distance himself: ‘That wasn’t me, that was my persona!’ And the reason for this ‘act’? The big bad UU was mean to him, so that justifies his even worse behaviour. When the victim of his obsessive lashing out realizes that responding to his juvenile antics only leads to more of the same, and decides to break the cycle by both refusing to respond and denying him from hijacking thier Twitter account or blog, guess what? Robin Edgar decrees that this is another ‘reason’ for expressing his rage. How dare UUs ignore him!

Respond to him, and he lashes out. Ignore him, and he lashes out. You can’t win, break even, or even leave the game.

This is Robin Edgar’s ultimate hypocrisy. He demands that UUs be perfect, and when they are not, then he proclaims them evil, stupid, and every other insult he can throw at them – while he, conversely, is blameless and righteous in all things, and more importantly, deserving of attention if not outright adulation and submission to his will.

You can’t have it both ways, Mister Edgar. You can’t demand of others a standard which you yourself refuse to live by. And no matter how many times you try to rationalize your ‘deliberately rude and “in your face” offensive’ behaviour, there is simply no excuse for it. Even your pathetic attempts at distancing yourself from what you do is meaningless. After all, you created your so-called ‘Emerson Avenger persona’, and are thus ultimately responsible for everything you attribute to that ‘act’.

One of the biggest problems with trying to read Robin Edgar’s blog posts and comments is his use (or abuse) of language. His writings are riddled with all sorts of repetitive catch phrases coined or appropriated by him, and he often redefines words through the lens of his narcissistic obsessions. This is a guide to many of these, and we invite our readers to offer more examples of ‘Robin-Edgar-speak’

Abuse – any criticism of Robin Edgar by any Unitarian Universalist, however valid or constructive.

Asterisk – a frequently overused typographical symbol in Robin Edgar’s blog posts and online comments; even though he has shown himself quite capable of using boldface, italics and underlining, he continues to frame words with asterisks as a means of emphasis; considering his repeated commentary that the asterisk resembles a rectal sphincter, this may explain his obsessive overuse (see entry forAss, Asshole); this in turn may provide meaning to his constantly abbreviating ‘Unitarian Universalist’ as ‘U*U’ (read ‘you asshole, you’); note also his spelling out the word as ‘Ass-To-Risk’

Big Fat U*U – Meaningless attempt at an insult by Robin Edgar towards any and every Unitarian Universalist of whom he disapproves; considering that he has never voiced approval of any Unitarian Universalists, and the incredible amount of repetition in his blog and online comments, an especially meaningless phrase

Censorship – refusing to publish any of Robin Edgar’s comments, regardless of how offensive or irrelevant it may be; even though no effort is made to suppress his use of his own blog (actually several) to publish his views, he considers others’ refusing to let him hijack their blogs and media outlets for his own purposes to be an affront to his rights

Cowardly – anybody who chooses to question or criticize Robin Edgar anonymously, for whatever reason; all too often assumed by him to be a Unitarian Universalist

DIM thinking – a term of art appropriated by Robin Edgar to describe any disagreement with, or questioning of, any of his actions or allegations; if you do not agree with his belief that Unitarian Universalism is riddled with ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’, and that he is justified in doing and saying whatever he wants in response (even when he makes unjust accusations, abusive statements, or behaves exactly as he accuses others of doing), then you are guilty of ‘DIM thinking’

Emerson Avenger – according to Robin Edgar, his ‘online persona’ for engaging in an endless crusade against ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’ within Unitarian Universalism; another way of rationalizing his outlandish statements and behaviour by claiming that he is actually a nice and reasonable person, and that his ‘Emerson Avenger persona’ is merely a ‘form of satire’ in response to Unitarian Universalists refusing to give in to his repeated demands for ‘justice’; the problem is, Unitarian Universalists have so rarely seen him behaving ‘nice’ and ‘reasonable’, making it hard to tell which is the real Robin Edgar and which is an act

Googe hits – justification for Robin Edgar’s belief in his own relevance, importance and self-righteousness

Hypocrisy – label attached to any Unitarian Universalist who does not always listen to, or agree completely with, Robin Edgar

Insults – in the mind of Robin Edgar, a perfectly justifiable response to any criticism of his obnoxious, outrageous and offensive behaviour; since he views any such criticism as an insult (see alsoAbuse), he believes that he is in his rights to lash out at any Unitarian Universalist who disagrees with him, or even refuses to respond to his demands

Justice – Unitarian Universalists giving in to every complaint, demand and grievance of Robin Edgar, no matter how extreme or irrational

Kick in the balls – example of Robin Edgar’s frequent and repetitive use of violent imagery, in this case to exaggerate the importance or relevance of one Unitarian Universalist disagreeing with another, and often coupled with the bizarre claim that such disagreement justifies Robin Edgar’s outrageous behaviour and verbal attacks

Memory hole – final resting place for many of Robin Edgar’s more offensive comments on other people’s blogs (although he is notorious for printing them on his own blog, then accusing the other person of ‘censorship’); appropriated out of context from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

Peaceful public protest – real-time harassment of Unitarian Universalist groups and meetings, involving the use of handmade picket signs with bizarre statements; many times ‘documented’ by having Robin Edgar photograph or videotape himself; most frequent target of this tactic has been the Unitarian Church of Montreal, which terminated his membership after enduring almost two years of obsessive and outrageous conduct; also directed at perceived co-conspirators of ‘U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’, such as Quebec’s Crown Prosecutors for following up on requests filed for restraining orders against him

Some – Apparently a reference to 99.9999 percent of Unitarian Universalists, or particular groups of Unitarian Universalists; Robin Edgar frequently prefaces his attacks on UUs with this word, as if to make the claim that he does not despise all UUs; the problem, of course, is that he has lashed out at so many UUs since the start of his crusade against alleged ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’ that it is virtually impossible to know if he actually approves of any

In Robin Edgar’s latest ‘Emerson Avenger’ blog post, he attempts to hijack Revered Fred Small’s words, all to justify himself. In his mind, since Small proclaimed, in the Universalist tradition, that God’s love is infinite and unbounded, that this somehow means that God approves of Mister Edgar’s outrageous statements and behaviour.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mister Edgar, God loves you. Many Unitarian Universalists love you. We love you. But that doesn’t mean that you are immune from criticism, or that God or any of us are giving you carte blanche to exercise vengeance (however lame and misguided) on those you disagree with or don’t approve of. It certainly does not mean being thin-skinned and mean-spirited on your part.

As for your proclamation that our churches are ‘dead’, we just have to wonder, if that is the case, then why do you persist in beating a dead horse?

Mister Edgar, you just don’t get the message of Universalism. It is not simply that God’s love is infinite. It is that we, as God’s creation, should strive to act in love towards others – all of us, including you.

It means forgiveness, mercy, forbearance and honesty – qualities which we frankly find sorely lacking in your words and deeds.

It means moving on with your life, and doing something more constructive than repeating the same ‘peaceful public protest’ (read harassment) and sitting in a public library flaming UUs online in even the most irrelevant forums.

No, instead you pursue the practice of vengeance, even thinking up new reasons to lash out at Unitarian Universalists everywhere. Your path is not about love, but anger.

We do love you, Mister Edgar, as hard as it is for you to imagine. But do not love what you say or do. We wish you could do better, but your failure to see this only makes us pity you all the more.

I found your site after hearing about “The Emerson Avenger” from some guys at a cafe. We were all using laptops and pads through the cafe’s free WiFi, and they were all laughing at something. One of them, a friend of mine from school, showed me the website. When they first stumbled on it, they were confused how some of his posts could be even remotely related to his campaign against “injustices, abuses and hypocrisy.” They asked him why, and his response was unbelievable – insulting, presumptuous, and then a second post boasting about getting the last word. So another guy posted a response, and the blogger went on another rant. He is definitely obsessed and unhinged, thinking anyone who questions or criticizes him MUST be a “U*U” and an idiot. I feel so sorry for this guy, he’s wasted so much of his time and life on this, and what has he got to show for it. He’s a laughinstock, that’s all he’s succeeded in doing. None of the guys in the cafe are Unitarians (neither am I) or even interested in religion, but they just find his blog so ridiculous and wacked out. I can see why you’ve written this blog in response, because he needs to learn – if he ever can – that he’s not accomplishing a damned thing, he’s just proving the people who call him a nut that they’re right. It’s so pitiful, really.

We’ve remarked about Robin Edgar’s fixation with Google hits. When he has nothing else to write about, he checks what Google hits he has and reports them as news, even when it’s just a single hit from who-knows-where.

He’s been doing that a considerable amount recently, and one of our readers has speculated as to why…

‘Ever notice how few comments there are on the Emerson Avenger? Like people gloss over his lengthy rants and just shut it off?’

Perhaps that’s why he’s so ‘Goo-goo’ over Google hits. It’s another convenient way of manufacturing attention. ‘See, see, see – all these people looking for bad, bad things about Big Fat U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisies!’ So when one individualdoes one search which leads to his site, he feels it’s worth posting about on his blog. Of course, for all he knows, that individual took one look at his site, saw how bitterly it exaggerates and distorts things – and how self-centered his view of the world – and moved on.

Unfortunately, Robin Edgar still has not learned to move on. He hunts incessantly for anything and everything which could be seen as a black mark on Unitarian Universalism. He says he does not hate us as a whole … so why has he never ever said anything positive? Why devote so much time and energy to trying to destroy and discredit an entire religious denomination?

Unitarian Universalism has endured worse attacks for generations. What is tragic is the harm to individuals – not only those who have become targets of his vicious ad-hominem attacks, but Mister Edgar himself, for wasting so much time and energy on such a destructive course, when he could have done something positive and healthy with his passion and skills. All we can do is hope and pray that he turns his life around, with the help and guidance he needs to overcome his obsessions and dysfunctions.